9-man America beats Xolos 2-1

Club America got two red cards in the first half, but the Mexico City giants also got two goals -- enough, somehow, to hold off the Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles 2-1 in a wild game Saturday at Estadio Caliente.

It was the first loss for the Xolos (4-1-1) in six games of the Clausura season in Liga MX and dropped them out of a tie for first place with Monterrey's Tigres. America (5-1-0) is now alone in first, with Tigres (4-0-1) playing at Toluca today.

It's hardly the position the Xolos expected to be in, especially after America's Rubens Sambueza and Aquivaldo Mosquera both got their second yellow cards in the 23rd and 38th minutes, respectively.

America led 1-0 at that point on Osvaldo Martinez's 13th-minute penalty kick. Paul Aguilar made it 2-0 early in the second half before the Xolos finally pulled one back against their nine-man opponent, by defender Pablo Aguilar in the 76th minute.

That set up a frantic final 15 minutes, with America bunkered in front of its goal and relying on goalkeeper Moises Munoz to make one spectacular save after another.

"The loss hurts just as much as any," said Xolos coach Antonio Mohamed, whose team plays at Chiapas on Friday. "It was a weird game. We didn't have what it takes to score."